Supreme Court judgment: Prix v Work and Pensions Secretary
In what amounts to a defeat for the government, the Supreme Court has decided in this case to refer to the European Court of Justice questions on the interpretation of the EU Citizenship Directive,...
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Julian Assange: “democracy is the sum of our resistance”
I went along tonight to hear Julian Assange’s speech wondering just slightly if he might not astonish the world, and announce his exit into the arms of the police. Anything, as we’ve learned, can...
View ArticlePress regulation: the international aspect
An exchange in last night’s Lords debate on the new press regulation clauses in the Crime and Courts Bill revealed a little-noticed – and no doubt to some, astonishing – aspect of the proposed system:...
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Is Ed’s energy freeze lawful?
The centrepiece of Ed Miliband’s speech to Labour’s conference yesterday was this: If we win the election 2015 the next Labour government will freeze gas and electricity prices until the start of...
View ArticleThe Prince Charles letters judgment – in a few sentences
For a while I’ve wondered if it might be helpful to summarise key Supreme Court and other major judgments in a few sentences. So I thought I’d have a go at it as an experiment, while I’m gathering my...
View ArticleProportionality, at length: the Supreme Court’s “QASA” ruling
The Supreme Court has in today’s judgment in R (Lumsdon) v Legal Services Board ruled lawful the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, as approved by the Legal Services Board. The scheme will...
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Same-sex marriage: the US, Europe and the Obergefell questions
The US Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v Hodges – it may come out today, or next week – will be historic whatever it decides. The main question is whether the Fourteenth Amendment to the US...
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Could Greece take Europe to court?
Could a desperate Greece go to court over its financial dispute with Europe? The crisis is more about politics and finance than it is about law. But some reports have suggested Greece might take legal...
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What is Parliamentary sovereignty, anyway?
As we await David Cameron’s sovereignty plan this week, it might help to explain what we mean by “Parliamentary sovereignty”. When we talk about Parliamentary sovereignty, we don’t mean a general...
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What Boris told us about the “sovereignty plan”
Since I wrote about David Cameron’s “sovereignty plan”, it seems to have been forgotten. It’s clear the idea was aimed at keeping politicians in the Remain camp, and has failed. @carlgardner I...
View ArticleArticle 50, and UK constitutional law
If you’ve been following closely news about Britain’s EU referendum and its aftermath, you’ll probably have heard of article 50 of the Treaty on European Union which makes provision for a member state...
View ArticleWhy the High Court got the law wrong about Brexit
Some reactions to the High Court’s judgment in the article 50 case, R (Miller) v Brexit Secretary, have been ugly, excessive and ridiculous. It’s excessive too to see the judgment as blocking Brexit,...
View ArticleWill Brexit rights have direct effect? The Human Rights Act may show us the...
The government published its latest “future partnership paper” today on “Enforcement and dispute resolution”, and most of the attention it’s gathered—and the government’s spin—has been about its...
View ArticleLaughing gas and the Psychoactive Substances Act
It’s been reported that some prosecutions under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 have collapsed recently, at Southwark and Taunton Crown Courts. The Taunton case at least was about the section 7...
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Same-sex marriage: the US, Europe and the Obergefell questions
The US Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v Hodges – it may come out today, or next week – will be historic whatever it decides. The main question is whether the Fourteenth Amendment to the US...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Could Greece take Europe to court?
Could a desperate Greece go to court over its financial dispute with Europe? The crisis is more about politics and finance than it is about law. But some reports have suggested Greece might take legal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is Parliamentary sovereignty, anyway?
As we await David Cameron’s sovereignty plan this week, it might help to explain what we mean by “Parliamentary sovereignty”. When we talk about Parliamentary sovereignty, we don’t mean a general...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Boris told us about the “sovereignty plan”
Since I wrote about David Cameron’s “sovereignty plan”, it seems to have been forgotten. It’s clear the idea was aimed at keeping politicians in the Remain camp, and has failed. @carlgardner I...
View ArticleArticle 50, and UK constitutional law
If you’ve been following closely news about Britain’s EU referendum and its aftermath, you’ll probably have heard of article 50 of the Treaty on European Union which makes provision for a member state...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is a digital newspaper a newspaper? The “always speaking” principle
A Supreme Court judgment recently held that a digital newspaper isn’t a newspaper. This was the case of News Corp v HMRC, in which the media giant tried to get the court to agree that its digital...
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